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olderthannetfic · 3 years

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Ah, I do see your points, anon. I'm not going to post all your asks publicly because if you really feel that unsafe, it's probably best not to have a bigass chunk of your text for people to analyze and try to guess your identity from. I think one of the best points you made is about how close to home it hits when the non-fave is not only your fave but is similar to you in some way like demographic. You're not wrong for having those emotions. I do wonder if they make it hard to see how some other people feel similarly embattled on other axes.

TBH, I think one of the big problems here is that the large aggregate patterns you're talking about are racist, but most individual fics and fans are not really the problem. It's hard to know how to talk about this or who to tell to "fix" it when we're looking at free, hobbyist art.

A lot of people's tastes are certainly formed by shitty society, but once they're formed, they don't change fast if at all. Asking someone to rewrite their libido is a big ask, yet tumblr does it all the time as though it's as simple as snapping your fingers.

This leaves me with the sense that a lot of tumblr is... like... the political lesbians of porn fic or something: desire is not real, only choosing based on logic and politics. Or maybe people are so asexual that they just don't understand the lizard brain's "YES!" at some porn things and complete indifference to others?

I don't think it's great if great swaths of people feel like bottom!Nicky is super hot and top!Nicky fundamentally isn't, but I also don't think they can necessarily just turn it off like flipping a switch.

(If someone reading this doesn't like their current tastes and wants to attempt to alter them, I do think it's possible. What you should do is line up a large slate of media that prominently features characters of the ethnicity or whatever that you don't find hot/interesting. These should be leads whose emotional development drives the plot and is supposed to be central to the audience's enjoyment of the media. Watch/read/etc. this media all the time. All. The. Time. Try out many pieces because you won't like every character or every show, and we're looking for genuine enjoyment, not the fandom equivalent of a pity fuck. Spend enough time on this, and your unconscious sense of who's hot and interesting will eventually shift somewhat. This is a project you should expect to take a few years.)

But I digress.

The one tweet thing is a very toxic pattern. If TOG fandom is doing that, guys, please try to be more conscious of holding the actors of color to a higher standard (or the women or whomever). I know this often comes from a place of paying more attention to our own and wanting to set a good standard, but the effect is that minorities can't fuck up ever while white dudes get infinite passes.

Okay, on to the fic thing... Gotta say, my instant reaction to that description is "Ooh!"--as it would be for the same scenario with the characters reversed. (Ships who start out trying to kill each other are my favorite! x1000 if they're resurrecting style immortals and they literally do.) I can see how it would feel like slamming into a brick wall if you aren't kinky in just the right way and you didn't know it was coming though.

Part of why I react so strongly to a lot of discourse that runs along these lines is that I am a naturally extremely kinky person. It's not so much about what I do (which as a deeply lazy person in a long distance relationship is essentially nothing), but it's absolutely how I'm wired.

And I can tell you that my quotidian experience in fandom is sharing something I don't even realize is a big deal only to have someone I like, respect, and trust react in horror and tell me that it's triggering and awful and should not be allowed in fandom spaces because it makes "people" unsafe. It's such an instant, kneejerk reaction they don't even realize I was sharing it because it spoke to the very core of me. Lesson learned, friend. Lesson learned.

That sounds a bit off topic, I know, but bear with me: The point of that anecdote is that it's pretty common for me to get people trying to raise my awareness of things I have already thought deeply about while denying my essential humanity and not even realizing. As a kinky person who likes to make my fave the top (and generally a conflicted sadist), this constant request to explain and justify is exhausting.

I doubt most of the top!Joe fans have this precise problem simply because people who make their fave the top are much less common in fandom than people who make their fave the bottom, but I see a similar pattern with fans who are just fundamentally wired for rape fantasies (one of the most common fantasies that exists) vs. fans who just don't get rape fantasies at all. Or substitute your BDSM/kinky/messed up fantasy trope of choice. Covertly radical feminist attitudes towards kink and power are on the rise in fandom, and as a naturally kinky person, boy do I notice it!

I know that it feels like crucial activism to share these insights about why the ratio of top!Joe is hurtful, and the pain you feel is real. But it's also the case that it's a big ask to want people to listen. (Not me. Obviously, I routinely choose to engage with discourse. I mean overall.) The reason for that is that you're only seeing a fraction of what they do or who they are, and you don't know how many previous people they've listened to how many previous times. It's a very different situation from someone whose job is making some major TV series or movie or something. That person does, in my opinion, owe you some amount of listening.

Now, I'm not saying no top Joe fan was ever a jerk. I'll bet they were. There's a tendency to be rude and to publicly air your schadenfreude when you feel like everyone has been yelling at you. What I am saying is that a lot of the problem here boils down to conflicting needs, and that means there isn't a good solution. It's a situation where people are genuinely hurt, but I don't necessarily agree that other people have harmed them.

I like that you did an actual count of the explicit fics, btw. It's good to look at the real numbers. I see too little of that in these situations. My off the cuff reaction is that 2/3 to 1/3 is not a bad ratio at all compared to many fandoms, but yeah, it definitely shows a strong trend, and that can be painful. (I have a fandom where I think there's maybe like 1 bottom so-and-so fic in the entire zine era fandom. One. It's pretty extreme.)

I guess my thinking here overall is: What is the practical solution? What are we hoping to gain? What is reasonable to ask of people?

And it can't be "Well, if they would just listen..." That's just a sneaky way of saying "If you haven't done it my way, it's because you haven't listened to me yet."

So the question I would ask of people is this:

What does a non-racist fic where Joe tops look like?

What does a non-racist sex pollen, dubcon, or even noncon fic where Joe tops look like?

And if you say the latter is impossible... well... sadists exist everywhere in the world. So do doms. So do people who prefer to top in a purely physical sense. People with rape fantasies where they're the rapist exist (people who are not actually rapists, I mean). None of this is restricted to any one group. We can't categorically say fic like that about Joe is coming from a place of racism without denying the fundamental humanity of kinky MENA people who'd want to make Joe like themselves or like their ideal partner. (Yes, I agree this won't be the majority of fic writers writing top!Joe, but this is a place to start for figuring out what the better version would look like.)

IDK, maybe you're that kinkster yourself, but your asks gave me the vibe that you don't really get the drive towards those darker kinds of fics and what might be motivating it besides stereotypes and shittiness.

If we can answer these kinds of questions, we can better critique the way people write what they write without telling them all of their taste is bad and they should just stop writing. Even if we think the latter is true, it isn't going to get us anywhere. Figuring out how to make Joe more multidimensional in the fic they already want to write or finding very specific wording that should be avoided might actually work.

Beyond that, the actions I think are productive would be running prompt fests, exchanges, or other events for bottom!Joe or for top!Joe where he's the main character and the fics are required to be from his POV. Themed collections and recs lists are great. (I've seen a bit of this going around in TOG fandom in the past, and that's an excellent approach! Keep it up!) Positive actions tend to work better here. Make more of what you want. Promote what you want to see.

I don't mean this in some fluffy magical thinking way: you aren't going to change that ratio radically just by the power of positivity. But I've seen this kind of thing play out in many, many fandoms, and going after the people who write what you don't like, even in a well-intentioned effort to educate and even in a polite, kind way doesn't do much. A few people feel guilty. A few feel defensive. A lot ignore you. The overall fic doesn't change. It's not a good use of your limited time and energy.

I'm off to look up that fic to see what I think of it in practice, but I'm going to post this before tumblr manages to eat it.

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cometcalloway · 3 years

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I see that meme on the dash, & I don’t know of 5 tv tropes off the top of my head, but I know Sparrow fits the one for Apocalypse Maiden [xxx]

When The Hero is in charge of preventing The End of the World as We Know It, imagine their surprise when they find out the threat comes not from some Evil Overlord, but from one of their friends or family destined to bring about the end of the world. The reasons for this can vary.

Maybe they have inherited a form of Enemy Within or Superpowered Evil Side capable of destroying worlds, or have been possessed by an Eldritch Abomination. Most heart wrenchingly, they are completely innocent yet their mere existence acts as a Butterfly of Doom that can destroy the Cosmic Keystone. Either way, they're going to somehow bring about the apocalypse in some form Because Destiny Says So.

negativity tw below the cut, thoughts on pop culture

I actually don’t vibe with that site all that much (no shade to anyone who does) because it’s about pop culture, and I’m here to do a different thing. It’s just about impossible to write dignified and realistic stories about trauma within pop culture without ending up in territory like the Lovable Coward Trope [xxx]. This describes my Kafei muse pretty well when some kind of action movie scenario comes along, but I can’t use the trope as a thing that describes him because it’s just not very flattering! And being antsy around literal violent combat situations is literally the norm, not some kind of comedy moment or incompleteness!! There’s an assumption that snuck in somewhere with this framing, that a story must be an adventure with violent combat situations, and that the most noble/dignified/rational/admirable/mature characters in the story must be the ones who feel at home with that. This isn’t wrong for specific stories (& ‘fighting and beating the bad guy’ is a wonderful metaphor for personal growth of any kind). But it’s incredibly bizarre as a metric for every story. So many legitimate perspectives a real person might have can become forced into side character material or “before picture” material in a pop culture story.

I remember a plot event in that N.etflix S.he-Ra cartoon where a character willingly dies for the cause because they reflected on the way they were handling situations and realized that they hadn’t been brave enough. They conclude that this means their life couldn’t possibly be worth as much as another character’s life, so the best thing for everyone would be for them to go out in self sacrifice so the braver character can live and go out and do more in the world than they ever could. Like, that’s a horrifying implication of the show’s “let’s learn to be brave!” energy!! Like, hey kids, if you don’t learn to be brave, we can’t have that around here... you literally deserve to live less than other people deserve to live... go ask your friend with a scary home life why she doesn’t just realize that she can be brave and then go do something about it... the sort of emotional meritocracy just does not vibe. Everybody is already maximally worthy, and any personal growth or whatever is extra.

The T.win P.rinces from D.ark S.ouls (a franchise with a large fanbase, definitely not an indie game not many people have heard of) are noticeably absent from the tv tropes page for Apocalypse Maiden. L.othric does not occupy the pop culture sphere as a friend and neighbor the hero unfortunately has to consider murdering, but only because it’s the only way to save the world. How did he lose his innocence in the eyes of the jury, when he committed no crime besides setting a boundary about who may or may not take his life? Was he not kind and sweet and convenient to the character in the coveted role of Hero? Was he supposed to act like a conflicted and agitated victim instead of choosing himself with steely-eyed resolve? Did his very humanity and worth depend on being more declawed and less certain and comfortable in his own identity and needs? Can he not be the hero in his own story, from his own side of things, can the clashing perspectives not be relative and equal, because his perspective does not meet ‘hero’ criteria?

I dunno, man. I grew up on pop culture & I look for a much different relationship with it now. I need to see it as a very specific thing, with its own merits and limitations, and not the craft of storytelling itself. My issue is less with pop culture in of itself, and more with this kind of sneaky built in assumption that it’s how to tell every story that it took me a while to really notice. I definitely come at rp writing as a creative writing hobby that isn’t specifically a pop culture/fandom hobby. (No comments worded like education or advice, please!)

#this feeds into the difficulty of sometimes catching myself presenting my muse as a sort of funney trope #when I actually would like people to treat them as equals on the same level as other characters #or very well-meaning people sometimes interpreting my muses as trope-ish & assuming it's how I want them to react #nothing that happened recently dw dw but something that's happened in the past (& isn't diabolical on anyone's part ofc)#the tropes can be so!! hungry!!!!

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tar-oh · 4 years

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Pick-a-Pile: What will the end of 2020 look like for you?

A lovely anon requested me to do a pick-a-pile on your life at the end of 2020, and so here we are! And, honestly you guys are getting spoiled because I used my Lovely Omens deck which was really intended to be only used for my own readings on myself, but I made the exception today because I connect with it really well and thought it would be fun to see what it would say.

For the piles I pulled out some of my collection of Argento movies for the piles. Choose whichever movie speaks to you! If you’re into Argento and you’ve seen them, then cool! Let’s be friends. Outside of that, that’s fine! Let’s still be friends! Anyway, choose whichever pile calls to you. Remember, take what resonates. This is not the end-all-be-all, and this may not be what really happens because it’s what the current energy is leading to. Your energy can change tomorrow and so can your future, so, don’t take it to heart. This is more of a fun, what-if. And if you get to December 31st and you’re finding that this is did happen for you, let me know! So, anyway. Take what resonates, not what doesn’t! Also, you’re welcome to pick more than one pile, so if you want to, you can! OKAY! Here are the piles:

Pile 1:

Cards: letter, book, fish, queen of pentacles, temperance, the moon, 10 of wands reversed, 3 of cups, judgement, uruz, othala, wunjo, kenaz

Pile 1, I think by the end of the year, things are going to be going better for you. I'm not sure where you are currently (like if these things have happened already, or will be soon), but I see that you'll be feeling more secure overall. There are a few specific things that I think may only apply to a few people, so I'll get those out of the way. Also, if you were going between pile 1 and 2, maybe read pile 2 as well. There's a lot about finding creativity in this pile, and you chose the movie Suspiria, which is technically a horror movie, but the base of the plot is that a girl is attending a foreign dance school. I think some of you may be dancers, or are discovering your passion for dance. I also kind of get this from the 3 of cups, since they look like they're having fun. They don't look like they're celebrating as much as other versions of that card, and they don't look like their moving very fast, so maybe you're into interpretive dance, or something? Maybe singing, so maybe you sing, but I’m getting more dance. Like, maybe you like to move slow, but deliberately. There is actually a remake of Suspirira that has interpretive dance rather than ballet like in the original. Either way, I see that you could be a dancer. And if not a dancer, I think you could just be really creative, but specifically something with music or dance. And again, especially because you chose this movie. One of the things that stands out with this movie is the score by Gobiln. They're kind of known for doing weird out-there scores (I’ll link a video of a song from this movie so you can see what I mean lol), but it's very specific to this movie, so I definitely am leaning more towards music and dance. Maybe you don't do it publicly, it's just something you do in your own time that really makes you feel good about yourself. A few of the cards can talk about creativity, so maybe you're just finding the perfect balance of how to express yourself. I think you're focusing more on this creativity at the end of the year.

For others, another specific thing I'm getting is that maybe you're graduating from or even starting business school. For others, you could be training for something specific for work. Or just training for something in general. Learning something. And others maybe its law school, or economics major. For everyone, though I see you learning something. Whether it be educational or just something random. For some, you may be learning about a secret through a letter or a book, and this could be about money or work. The Moon card really adds to this, so I think you'll be ending the year a little more enlightened about something. The movie also kind of goes with this! It's kind of a mystery and the main character Susie is trying to figure out what's going on in her school, and so maybe you'll solve a mystery! lol Maybe nothing so exciting, but I suppose that's also depends on the context. I do definitely take the moon to mean that this is something you're not supposed to know. At least NOT YET. Like, the moon always comes up for me like that in tarot when it’s something I’m not really supposed to know yet, so I think it's just something you're not supposed to worry about and be more present and when the time comes around, enjoy the whole mystery of it all. I definitely think you've gone through some sort of rebirth this year. I don't know if this is happening at the end of the year, or if you've gone through it already, but by the end of the year you're going to be different in some way. It could just be how you express yourself (going back to that creativity), or even who you're around. I feel like you're finding out who is good for you and who isn't, so its possible your friend group will be different by end of the year. And that's not a bad thing! As people, we all grow and sometimes we grow out of people. I think there could also be new people coming around too (maybe even meeting people online, which what the letter kind of hints to me and the song I was listening to mentioned a letter so I definitely am going with that lol). I think you're going through a lot of healing this year, and maybe more so near the end. And this goes with that rebirth. I don't know what's happened in the past to need this healing (but I suppose we all have our wounds), but I think you're learning more about who you are and what you like. I think you're doing amazing job-wise. You got a few runes that suggest prosperity, and I also see Queen of Pentacles and Temperance attributing to this too. The Queen of Pentacles is someone who is prosperous and abundant, but is also motherly (and I just am getting at this as a quality rather than you being an actual mother, so even if you’re not a mom, I just mean like having that kind of vibe to you). So it's like this good balance between knowing how to get shit done, but also doing it in a compassionate way. The Ten of Wands reversed can talk about letting go of burdens and simplification. So I think by the end of the year, you've weeded out what doesn't work for you. I think, especially after the year the whole world has had, you are learning what matters to you and you're living your life to it's full potential by the time we're leaving this shitty year behind. I think you're doing better in terms of finances, I'm not seeing that you're like super rich, but again, you got a lot of stuff that suggests prosperity. And this might not even mean just materially. This could just be that you're just feeling so much better about life and yourself. Maybe you're abundant with love, finding new love, expanding on existing love, whatever that means for you. I always take Judgement to mean karma, but I see this as good karma for you. And, while I was writing your pile out, Marina's Karma came on, so I definitely think the way you're ending your year is how it's supposed to go. Maybe the way to get there has changed drastically with the way things have gone, but either way, there were multiple paths there, so I think either way you were going to get there. So, your end of the year is looking good! I don't really see anything that concerns me, honestly. I think you're on the right path and you're going to be feeling good about yourself. I'm really proud of you!

Songs: (a lot of the songs were super specific, so I’m only posting a few of the ones that seem to stand out more)

The theme from Suspiria in case you’re interested (there’s a version with just the bells I listen to because this ones kind of creepy but it also makes me laugh)

these days - nico (this definitely goes with figuring out what you want to do, I think) watergun - lostboycrow (gonna be honest there’s like 5 artists and one of them lists himself like twice lmao so idk who the actual artist is. i feel that way about anything olivver the kid is involved with)

karma - marina

Pile 2:

Cards: 10 of pentacles, 5 of pentacles, the hermit, king of cups reversed, knight of wands reversed, 5 of wands, the fool reversed, jera, isa, raidho, the lady, the rider, scythe I'm seeing three possible scenarios, 2 are similar, but one is permanent as opposed to the other which is only temporary. So, first, I want to talk about the movie you chose. Inferno is part of a series by Dario Argento, but honestly the only two of the series at that matter are Inferno and Suspiria (the one from pile 1, so if you were going between the two, I think this means you should read that one too). I can't really give you too much about the plots of either because they're both really hard to explain without giving the whole thing away. However, I can say this: It's about an apartment building where people start to disappear from and the only thing that connects them is that they're starting to figure some things out about the history of the place. I can't get more into it, especially because Inferno is kind of an infuriating movie in that it has no main character and you spend most of it going "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON" which kind of leads me to your pile. I really think prior to what happens later this year or currently/ what already happened, you were in this weird state where you weren't sure where things were going. I think there was a lot of stagnation in your life, and it could also be in multiple areas (love, work, anything really). I think this lead to frustration and apathy on your part. I think there will be/ was something cut off. For some, it’s permanent. For others, it was only temporary. And, this makes sense because if this already happened for you, it could have had to do with quarantine. Maybe you lost your job or you did temporarily. I think prior to this, you were frustrated and feeling like this was it and you were kind of upset that it was all there was, but maybe this loss/end led to you realizing there was more to see/do in life. I think this is true for someone, because a cover that the Lummineers did of This Must be The Place by Talking Heads came on, and it's kind of like realizing that where you are is where you're supposed to be. I know, you're probably like "But that's the opposite of what you just said"! HANG ON! I'm getting that you're realizing it's not your "home" and "home is where I want to be..." and whatever this situation is, it's not feeling like home to you. Or, at least wasn't prior to the end/separation. For some, this was a person that was cut off. Either you were the one doing the cutting or someone else did (or maybe it was someone at a job or at school that you lost contact with because of closures). Either way, you realized just how frustrating this situation was and kind of went into Hermit mode for a bit (or will) to reflect on what transpired. Gonna be honest, because you chose Inferno, I'm thinking there's a lot of anger too. Like, there aren’t necessarily any super angry characters in this movie, but the name itself makes me think of rage. I always think of rage as being this really red hot thing, a kind of inferno. So, I see anger being involved. Or, for some of you at least. I think there was a lot of clashing/competition. Maybe arguments that ended in tears on someone’s end. Whatever it was, it was/will be cut off somehow and you'll be feeling more at peace. I think you're also going to be finding that you're definitely more stable and making more progress in areas of your life you hadn't seen progress in previously. In one of the decks I'm using, the Lovely Omens deck, the Hermit card makes the hermit look like she came to some kind of a conclusion, like an “a-ha!” moment with how she has her finger pointing up. And the hermit is someone who’s looking for answers. In the Rider-Waite deck it’s this guy who’s got a lantern, looking like he’s searching for something, but in this deck it’s like we’re seeing the moment she figured whatever it was out. I didn't intentionally lay it out the way it is in the picture, but it happened to be that she's above the Fool reversed, and I guess I see this as her maybe seeing that she can make that leap, whereas before she was hesitant and frustrated that things were at such a standstill. Maybe it was that this person or situation wasn't giving her any time to really do anything else outside of it, so maybe this time alone is making her feel like she can do anything. Now, you did get the 5 of pentacles, so I do think there was/is a period where you're feeling a little worried or anxious about finances, or just about anything really. But, I definitely see the 10 of Pentacles and the Hermit more than the five of pentacles card, and I'm seeing it as you figuring out that you can make a way to be stable on your own, not really needing anyone or that situation you'd been in. You could also read this as the 5 of Pentacles being someone else feeling a little left out, but I think it's for the best for the time being during this period of your life. I see that for some, this is a permanent cut. So maybe you just don't return to this specific job, and for other's again, it's only temporary. I do see that for some, this could be a relationship (Platonic or romantic), where you feel a little left out. Like you're not getting what you give, and this is causing you to be frustrated and moody. There may be harsh words being thrown around. But, again, this is getting cut off (by you, someone else, or just by the universe), and things are going to go better. Like, the ten of pentacles is a really good card to get, so I don’t see you being so bad off. Maybe this will be painful depending on who/what it is being cut off, but know that it’s going to lead to better things. So, things may have been rocky this year, or they will get rocky, but I see you ending it on a better note than where you were before the end of the year. Songs:

For pile one, I listed the song These Days by Nico and even though it played for that pile, I really think some of you could resonate with it, so I think you should look at the lyrics or listen to it. Also, a lot of the songs had to do with communication, so Idk. Maybe think about how you’re communicating with people, or how you’re allowing people to communicate with you (if at all, or if they’re just doing it in a shitty way. Have boundaries and speak up if you don’t think people are being honest with you, but also remember to treat people how you want to be treated) also, ngl i wasn’t going to link the theme to inferno but like honestly its so weird I have to. It’s not scored by Goblin like the other two movies but I get this song stuck in my head more lol So HERE it is idk maybe someone will like it too lmao

oceans - the wombats (there’s a line about selling an ocean to the sea and I really feel like this is kind of you and this situation you cut off, like maybe it was a situation you’ve been in time and time again and you’re finally cutting it off after seeing that it’s the same thing you’ve dealt with and the only way to stop it is to cut it off this time. like idk it’s hard for me to explain but i feel like this specific part of the song is something you should check out) movement - the higher this is me trying - taylor swift lambs wool - foster the people love me to death - GARDEN

this must be the place (naive melody) - Talking Heads cover by The Lumineers (they also talk about that same line I mention in the beginning of this and I think thats kind of funny that it stands out to them too lol) Pile 3:

Cards: Seven of Wands, 8 of Pentacles, Page of Cups, 8 of Cups, Knight of Wands, five of wands reversed, Ship, moon, sun, hagalaz, perthro, eihwaz

PILE 3 I THINK SOME OF YOU ARE GOING TO GET ASKED OUT. I have a bunch of reasons for this! First of, I pulled the Page of Cups and the Knight of Wands. Along with the moon and sun cards in my fortune cards (which don't necessarily mean love, but I'll get to it!). Also, the first two songs that played, were First Date by Blink-182 and The Pull of You by the National. Granted, The Pull of You is little sad (kind of about two people drifting apart, but still being connected) and First Date being about...well a First Date, but to me those definitely are screaming romantic feelings lol. But, we'll get to that later! You guys just kept getting all the love songs that mean something to me so!!! That's something!!! Like, I mostly just felt super mushy while doing this pile and I kind of take this to mean something. Firstly, I've been talking a little bit about the movies that each pile was represented by. Deep Red is actually one of my favorite movies (did I choose this pile before I pulled the cards? MAYBE. Do I think it's gonna happen for me specifically!? I don't know! But it might for you! Take what resonates!). It's a murder mystery and scored by Goblin (who I got to see play the score live during a showing of the movie last year for my birthday so!!!!). Basically, it's about an American pianist living in Italy who witnesses the murder of a neighbor and so he teams up with a journalist to solve the murder. They make a good team, and I think this is kind of playing into what I want to get at later, but first the big part of this: I think someone has noticed you. I think they're really attracted to you. Yes, I think it's physical, but I also think they're intrigued by you, especially because I think maybe you have some walls up and they can't really get to know you (I see the moon card in my fortune deck as kind of saying this, but it also can mean attention and praise, so I see this too!). I think they're seeing you as someone who has strength and has endured the trials of life. So, with this recognition, I think they're going to rush in and tell you how they're feeling and maybe ask you out. I think it's going to be really random and I also think it's going to end up being a compromise lol. I think you're going to be playing hard to get (but maybe it's not intentional, I know I'm kind of hard to really get to know, so I see how this could happen with someone). So, I see them working hard to get you to budge, but I think eventually you're kind of like "Okay, fine, but I choose what we do and when." Whatever it is, I see that it's going to go well I think you'll both be pretty happy. There may be a period after where you withdraw a bit (or they do) and think about it, but I think you feel a pull to them (which I think is why the Pull of You came on). The 8 of cups can talk about withdrawing, but it can also talk about loosing interest, however I don't see either of you loosing interest, at least not with everything else I pulled. This 8 of cups in this deck is really specific to me. In the Rider-Waite, he's walking away from the cups, but in this one he's just sitting and looking at the moon. And maybe this isn't you, maybe this is this person studying you before they ask you out? I mean, I think it's interesting I pulled one moon card and this one and the moon is so prominent to me in this card. Honestly, I think it's both! I think this person is REALLY into you. I mean, the majority of the songs that played were like really...They were about people liking people from afar, and also Panic Switch came on by Silversun PIckups and like I don't think it NECESSARILY applies to this, but I see maybe this being kind of a weird situation for you because maybe you're not used to the attention, so they like give you this attention and praise and admit that they like you and you kind of freeze up and your walls go up. So, like you panic? But, honestly, I think maybe you like them too. Like, Despite the seven and 5 of wands showing up, I'm seeing good in this. (I like it by the Maria's came on, so I really think you like them back lol) The runes add to it too, because Perthro means hidden secrets (and I take the moon to mean that too!), but I see the Knight of Wands holding up his wand, so it's like they're offering this truth to you. It can also mean change, and I see that this will change things. And Eihwaz can mean stability, so maybe this is something that at first is scary and uncertain when it first presents itself, but then it even outs (like with those negotiations where you compromise) and it stabilizes and you're just feeling glad with how it worked out. HONESTLY, I'm just feeling super good about this? So I think this is going to make you feel good too! And for those of you that didn't want a love reading, it could just be a new friend maybe, like someone that admires you and maybe you two have a good dynamic (like one where you could solve mysteries lol). I also think that both of you are creative, but in different ways. Like one could write and the other could be more into making music or playing instruments. I mean, it could be anything and maybe you're into the same things, but I'm getting that just from the dynamic between the two main characters in Deep Red, and I definitely get a creative vibe from this. And like, maybe it's a business offer. Like, you're asked to work on a project with someone. I think this could end up well. Any of these situations I think is going to go good, so I'm really happy for you!

Songs:

Deep Red Theme (since I posted the other themes. I listen to this one a lot actually, the bass is SO GOOD) first date - blink-182 (i promise i listen to other blink songs but this one just always seems to come up for these?!) the pull of you - the national howling at the moon - phantogram panic switch - silversun pickups (okay are you guys fans of good bass or something? bc i’m seeing a theme outside of my own preference)

groceries - mallrat i like it - the marías (you guys let me let this sit for weeks without me putting the link to this song? lol guyyss tell me things!) invisible string - taylor swift (i think its crazy this one played in the same pile the pull of you played bc I relate them together for many reasons? so like !!!! that’s tarot for you!!!!)

purest form - prince of eden

LET ME KNOW IF IT RESONATES AND ALSO MAYBE COME BACK IN JANUARY TO SEE IF IT PLAYED OUT THE WAY THE CARDS TOLD ME!

#tarot #pick-a-pile #pick-a-card

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nerdynformed-blog · 7 years

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Logan is a superhero movie - Part I: What a superhero movie is

I feel someone has to say it: Logan is a superhero movie. It is not a movie-with-superheroes-in-it-but-is-actually-something-else. It is a superhero movie.

Why do I care so much? Well, frankly I hear a lot of people saying that this movie teaches us (the audience and the moviemakers) that we don’t have to make superhero movies, just good movies with superheroes in it. If that does not sound familiar, maybe just go to some YouTube channels like Screenjunkies and the like (I love those guys, by the way).

However, I will argue the opposite: not only Logan is a superhero movie, but also it is what makes it such a great movie. Instead of making more movies-with-superheroes-that-are-not-superhero-movies, we should make better superhero movies. Like Logan.

Movies that don’t try to compensate or apologize for the “superhero stuff” in it. Movies that don’t try to be something else so people will say “it is not just a superhero movie”. Movies that excuse their laziness or unintended silliness with the phrase “it is a superhero movie”.

We need movies that embrace and explore what a superhero is. Like _Logan _did.

Let me just start saying that, predictively, I love this movie. It is great. There is so much good things that I can and will say about it in the future. However, to be blunt, everyone knows it is great. Not just that, there is a lot to be learned from it – both for those who love superheroes and those that make movies. It’s just that “stop making superhero movies” is the wrong lesson.

So I want to concentrate on something no one seems to notice: how good of a superhero movie it is and how we could and should make more movies like it. We don’t have too many superhero movies, we just got too few really good ones. That can be changed by understanding how _Logan _succeeds as being just that. A good superhero movie.

So, I am actually going to take 2 or 3 parts to talk about that. The first part is: what is a superhero movie. Yeah, sounds simple, but trust me.

‘Superhero’ is not a genre

Again, I hear a lot of people talking about the superhero genre – and that Logan is of course something else. It is a drama, it is a western, it is a movie about family. We could argue about it, but right now it doesn’t matter.

_Superhero _is NOT a genre – not to movies, comics, books, nor any medium.

I guess I have to be honest here, I did not go to film school. Far from it, my place in academia is, well… Some other time I will talk about it. But I am not an artist, scholar or critic in that sense – no formal artistic education about film making or anything like that. When it comes to movies, by any means, I am a layman.

However, I do love and study comic books and superheroes, and I obsess over them enough to really know what I am talking about. So my definitions may lack some conceptual finesse, but I think they can really help the conversation. Read them and judge me – but please read them first.

Genre is a very useful classification and, at the same time, misusing it can lead to a lot of trouble to an industry – be it games, movies or something else. Understanding the genre of a product helps the audience to select what they want to watch/read/play/smell.

If you like some movies of one genre, there is a good probability that you are going to enjoy other movies of the same genre. The opposite is also true – some people just cannot get into horror or action movies, doesn’t matter how good or well-made they are.

Understanding what genres people like also helps the industry decide what movies and games to make. It actually affects people’s livelihoods and careers, not to mention culture as a whole.

Honestly, there is a lot of criteria that can be used to classify a movie as part of a specific genre, so yes you will definitely find some definitions by witch I am completely wrong. But not every way to define “genre” actually works or helps the situation we got here – so also judge them with that in mind.

My personal mechanism is this: a movie genre is defined by the emotional drive that leads the public to want to see it and to enjoy it. It is a simple definition and, if you stop to think about it, it works very well.

You watch dramas to be emotionally involved and moved. Comedies to make you laugh – either out loud or just smirk about the wittiness of the story. Terror is supposed to make you experience fear, and horror, repulse. Action is about the thrills, the benign adrenaline of a fight or a car chase. Fantasy is about the feeling of, well, the presence of the fantastical and awesome. Adventure, romance, suspense – each of those terms describe the emotional state of the audience and the mood/atmosphere the movie has to work with. And sure, you can and should mix them up, but you have to know what ingredients you are using.

However, try to put all superhero movies in a common emotional vibe and see how that goes. We have balls to the wall satirical metamodernist comedy in Deadpool, that gritty tragedy and suspense of The Dark Knight, bad cliché sci-fi in Green Lantern and loads and loads of action in the rest of it.

There is a lot of movie genres that get confused with the subjects or themes that they usually explore. The best examples, for me, are cowboys, zombies and war. I believe that western and war are genres – and zombies are at least a subgenre of horror/terror. They are all marked by specific kind of character or scenario.

However, they also have their own emotional drives – and those are the real measures of which is a western or a zombie or war movie.

Westerns have that bleak post-apocalyptic dryness to them, with slow long silences and a violence that is dirty, quick and without spectacle.

War movies have that sense of sobriety and sad heroism, of the weight of duty and tragic importance, the loss of innocence and the risk of losing one’s own humanity– all wrapped in that feeling that we might not survive the next few hours.

And zombie movies are about a very specific kind of fear and sense of smallness.

That is reaaaaaaaally simplified, but you get the gist of it.

However, you have a lot of movies with cowboys, soldiers and zombies that are definitely NOT part of those genres, because they don’t have the same atmosphere. Cowboys and Aliens, the remake of Magnificent Seven are some good examples – a westerns’ fan IS NOT going to like them.

You could argue that _Shawn of the Dead _and Zombieland are zombie-comedies, and that would be ok. But let’s not pretend that the Resident Evil how many? seven movies? are similar in tone to the Romero classics.

And oh boy you have movies with soldiers and battles that are not war movies. If someone tells you “I don’t want to watch Allies or Inglorious Bastards because I did not enjoy Saving Private Rian” they are grossly misinformed – and missing out. You could even say that a fan of war movies is going to enjoy Rogue One more than a fan of Star Wars.

You could say that a lot of nerds like me run to the theater whenever there is a superhero movie – that that is what dives us. And ok, far enough. But still, there are vast differently moods that they have to work with for me to enjoy the movie. So, it is not a genre in this simple and useful definition.

So, if superheroes are not a genre, what are they?

‘Superhero’ is…:

Well…

‘Superhero’ is a subject and a type of character.

Before you start screaming at the screen, here it is why it matters:

Superheroes are a very special kind of character, and they are a very interesting subject to make movies about. That is the whole point I am trying to make: we need to explore these subjects and characters. We need to do it correctly, informed and unapologetically.

So, here it goes some information, corrections and a rude lack of apologies:

In those discussions about the genre of Logan, people talk about it being a western, and that is not by chance. Superheroes are literary descendent of the cowboy. They are just the last leafs of the same family three in which we have the cowboys, private detectives (no, not Sherlock, something more Dick Tracy or Philip Marlowe), space adventures (like Flash Gordon) and, finally, superheroes. I like to call this the American hero family.

All these heroes, including the superheroes, share some traits. Each one of them acts in a frontier – a dynamic space between civilization and savagery where there is people and humanity, but where safety and social stability are not guaranteed, creating both a place and a need for justice.

The heroes end up also being a mixture of the freedom of the untamed land and the responsibilities brought forward by the presence of other humans, families and society.

The cowboy has the literal frontier, but the cities of private eyes and superheroes are not that safer and/or more civilized when you go into the wrong alleys. Neon and concrete jungles and whatnot. And, in a very American way, those are socially dynamic spaces, with people always going up or down the ladder. (The most bizarre example I can think of this scenario is given by the analysis Extra Credits did on The Witcher 3 – that is fantastic).

They often act alone and are lonely, or at least independent of a higher authority. What drives them are not leaders or rulers, but their own internal moral compass that leads them straight to those in need of help.

They know violence, being able to survive it and inflict it – and that is a big part of it (be it guns, lasers or batarangs).

They are visibly extraordinary, and yet are in some sense common people. They carry our best values, but they are never our kings – so they inspire us, but never govern us.

And they fight for what is right, for justice and freedom: the cowboy may kill some bandits, while superheroes save the world or fight a giant monster, but it is the same thing in kind, if not in scale. Even when most superheroes refuse to kill, they are doing the same thing a cowboy does when he shoots bandits. They are obeying their own moral codes, even when that seems irrational or dangerous.

Even the heroes who work with or even for the government (like Captain America) follow their own morals instead of rules and orders – more often than not disobeying the last. And the Waynes and Starks of the world are always being reminded that, billionaires or not, they are just human. Even Thor in the comics has a double life as a human in a sense or another. Being part of humanity is very important to all these heroes.

However, by no means I want to say that superheroes are just like cowboys and the similar. They have three very necessary characteristics that makes the superhero a different species altogether, even if a member of the same family.

First of all, their superpowers. All superheroes are marked by one ability or a set of abilities that makes them something special. Even those with no superpower have access to some ability, technology or resource that makes them impossible to emulate, that sets them apart – even if it is just being really, really good with a bow and arrow. Even the Punisher has a very-much-above-average talent to kill and make war. Superheroes who lack this trait, either don’t last long or change soon.

More important than anything else, however, is their fashion sense. The cape, the mask, the symbol on the chest – the uniform makes a hero super. It is where the powers actually come from, if you believe the Mermaidman. They all have something that works as the face of their super persona – a color scheme, a recognizable silhouette, a pair of jeans and white shirt they love to wear. They even have special names that they use when dressed up: Superman, Wonder Woman, Gold Balls.

The most extreme cases are the Punisher, the Fantastic Four, the X-men (at least in the movies) and some of the Inhumans: character that don’t have secret identities, that don’t even wear masks, but still put on a uniform and call themselves by special names, as if invoking powerful beings that would never be called Reed, Frank or Hank.

Finally, the powers and the uniform combine to generate the most important trace of the superhero: the double identity. Not necessarily a secret identity, but always a double one.

Again, even heroes without secret identities have a need to be someone else or something else when “doing super stuff”. But they also have a birth name, civil clothing and a life outside of being super. In many (or most) cases, they keep their identities secret and completely separated, but even public supergenius have domestic lives and close people that call them Johnny or Charles.

They have human worries and relationships, being ever relatable in a sense or another. They are similar to us and – simultaneously – what we only dream of becoming. The mission is not everything to them. They save the world and have wives, they fight evil and pay rent, they fly and do the dishes. They have super adventures and human lives. That is what makes them superhuman.

They are at the same time human and divine – both aspects so clearly distinct that they have different names and appearances, but both deeply important for themselves and the stories.

That is interesting, because we have people who are much more amazing than the cowboys and detectives, but so much more human than they are also. They are greater crime-fighters, lifesavers and alien-fighters than Dick Tracy or Flash Gordon; but also have a separate job and/or family, very much human and “normal” – and they relish in that. Their normal lives are nice and important to them.

That leads us the last point of Part I. Since I am arguing that _Logan _is a superhero movie, I am going to define what a superhero movie is.

Finally, Superhero Movies are…

Simply put, it is a movie of ANY GENRE that focuses on a character with those traits and/or the traits themselves.

A original superhero movie is one that explores that in a original way.

A deep superhero movie is one that uses that to explore some deep questions.

A good superhero movie is a movie that is good in talking about that.

And I still defend the idea that ANY GENRE can benefit from doing that.

Dramas can focus on the weight and loneliness of living a double life. The sense of hopelessness of needing to do good, but being faced with a world that may never be completely fixed and even resists small changes. The hard work that is, more than doing the right thing, deciding what is right when you cannot just follow orders or “be normal”. And the emptiness that comes with the lack of certainty and closure after the fight is over and you just don’t know if you did the right thing. And the sacrifice – which one do you make? Your normal life or your grater purpose? Which will hurt you the most? Can you survive any?

Comedies can either make fun of the escapades and the excuses the hero has to improvise or lightheartedly poke holes in the whole attitude of some guy putting a colorful costume and calling himself a fantasy name. In the other hand, the larger than life superpersonas can be used to mock our occasional pettiness and thin skin, making us the strange and the superheroes the normal.

Action has a ton of possible situations to explore that “normal” people would not provide. Not just because of the powers – although, yes because of the powers – but also because of the appearance of the hero and the way they act out of the common structures of law enforcement. You can have a character that is much more of a common man than John McClane and, simultaneously, waaay more of a block buster than Rambo. And whose raison d'être necessarily leads him or her to action and danger.

The fantastical and the sci-fi can take all their iconic powers and narratives and see how they work when competing with the normal life of a normal human. Maybe we even get some perspective in how better we are in our imperfect world instead of Narnia, Middle Earth or Asgard.

Well, reading this, you probably already know how I justify calling Logan a superhero movie. If not, then even better! You are going to love to read Part II – Logan as a superhero movie. I will discuss then how it uses the superhero to make some grate drama.

When I post it, that is…

#logan #logan movie #superhero #superheromovie #nerd #movies

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